Obesity is defined by the National Institutes of Health as a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 30 or over. (A BMI of 30 means someone is about 30 pounds overweight.) A key index for relating body weight to height, BMI is a weight divided by height, so it correlates strongly (in adults) with total body fat content. But very muscular people can have a high BMI without facing health risks.

Obesity is a major health problem, with a growing segment of the population classed as either overweight or obese. Obesity can result from both genetic and behavioral factors, which is why treatment entails much more than simply recommending changes in diet—extreme dieting can actually contribute to obesity, and a healthy diet alone won’t necessarily improve self-esteem and confidence.  Exercise, therapy, support groups, and medication are other ways to treat weight issues.

How psychotherapy can help with obesity and weight loss

An effective weight loss program that includes nutrition and exercise is necessary to treat obesity. But obesity may stem from underlying causes that are not immediately obvious—poor diet and lack of activity are often the result of psychological factors that aren’t easy to overcome, so trying to treat obesity with diet changes, for instance, is unlikely to change the behavior that triggers overeating. There are psychological problems that need to be dealt with first. Successful weight loss requires solutions to treat both physical and psychological issues, so overlooking the psychological factors will harm your long-term goals. Psychotherapy can get to the root of your overeating, and help you lose weight.

How a psychotherapist can help with self-esteem issues related to obesity

Being obese or even overweight can cause low self-esteem. When having low self-esteem is one of the reasons you became obese to begin with, you can find yourself trapped in a vicious circle—the more you eat, the bigger you get, and the lower your self-esteem goes. So trying to treat the physical symptoms won’t help much unless the deep-rooted psychological issue is addressed. Psychotherapy helps you identify the cause of your obesity, so you can begin to improve your confidence and outlook.

How psychotherapy helps obese patients by identifying problems with food

A therapist will look at the behavioral patterns associated with your overeating. If you always feel hungry and need to snack because you’re in a weight-loss program with a restrictive diet, your eating habits have become dysfunctional. Compulsive eating can also be a coping mechanism if you’re under stress or pressure, leading to irregular eating patterns. Psychotherapy will help you plan an eating routine designed to improve weight loss.

Your psychotherapist will teach you the three main principles of losing weight:

  • Self-control and monitoring everything you eat;
  • Setting realistic, healthy weight-loss goals; and
  • Recognizing signals of wanting to eat outside your regular eating routine. These can be previous stimuli, such as watching TV, that triggered your desire to snack between meals.

How psychotherapy can help even if you require surgical measures

If it turns out you need surgical help (such as stomach stapling or gastric bypass) to lose weight, it’s normal to feel some psychological distress, as you might think it too invasive. Many people indeed argue strenuously against it, or even ask for a procedure to remove the device. If your body rejects the procedure, that can also negatively affect your emotional well-being.

You will need mental preparation before the procedure, and recovery counseling afterwards—therapy complements other treatments by helping you talk through the process and discuss possible outcomes. Changing how you think about surgery and its effects is a very effective way of helping you cope with the physical changes you will experience as a result of weight-loss surgery.